GSA Blog

Increasing women’s presence in federal buildings and art

GSA has celebrated women’s contributions throughout Women’s History Month every year in March. On March 8, GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan opened the month, recognizing that nearly half of the approximately 12,000 GSA employees are women, and they have had a huge impact on the agency’s success. This includes helping ensure that women across the country are celebrated in our federal buildings portfolio, our art collection, and more.   

Women’s names on our buildings…

GSA owns or leases over 371 million square feet of space in 8,600 buildings. It’s appropriate and important that a growing number of our federal buildings are named after women who have made history. 

For example, you might not know the fascinating story behind the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum, which GSA owns. As you know, Barton (pictured left) was a hospital nurse in the Civil War and founded the American Red Cross. GSA and the National Park Service discovered and worked to preserve her office after the Civil War — an office which located 22,000 of the almost 62,000 missing soldiers.

Other women who have had a major impact resulting in their names being on federal buildings - but you may not be familiar with them - are Maude R. Toulson, Pamela B. Gwin or Elizabeth Kee. Check out this blog, titled Celebrating Women: Our buildings, their stories. 

And even though only five of our 165 U.S. Courthouses have women’s names on them, we’re proud to feature them all here: 

• Diane E. Murphy Courthouse in Minneapolis
• Judith N. Keep Courthouse in San Diego
• Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building and Courthouse in Bangor, Maine
• Sandra Day O'Connor Courthouse in Phoenix
• Sylvia H. Rambo Courthouse in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

..and in the art they contain 

Women are claiming many of the spaces within and outside our buildings, too, by participating in our Art in Architecture program, which is celebrating 50 years this year (follow our Instagram to see great examples).   

Read about these five women artists who shaped public art:

• Concetta Scaravaglione
• Anita Glesta
• Louise Nevelson
• Mikyoung Kim
• Doris Lee

And also check out this more recent feature on four more amazing women artists in our portfolio:

• Yvonne Jacquette
• Maya Lin (pictured below)
• Mary Temple
• Patricia Leighton

We recently updated provisions in the program to keep expanding access to a broad array of artists that will reflect America’s wonderful diversity in public art, by removing restrictions on subject matter, theme and art style. 

Are you a woman artist or know one who is? Please check out and share our National Artist Registry to be considered for Art in Architecture commissions nationwide.

GSA’s employees - including the dynamic women throughout the agency - will continue to celebrate women and advance gender equity this month and every month as we help build a government that looks like, partners with, and delivers for everyone.